Greetings once again and welcome to 4ARM's tour diary.
I am able to type now as my hands have thawed out from our visit to Canada, which was an experience in all things that can freeze.
We're in Texas after a pilgrimage from Minnesota to play Fun Fun Fun Fest. A meager 24 hours on the road in the now-fragrant 4ARM tour bus. With six guys in the bus, I'm using the term "fragrant" quite loosely.
Despite the warnings of things being thrown, we've been pretty lucky as so far the strangest thing we've had come our way was a few hoodies that were thrown on stage in Canada. I thought it was very generous of them because. to be honest. I'm not used to the cold that we experienced up there and we needed extra clothes. So to the people who threw hoodies at us, thank you!
Several things happened as a result of the cold, though, one being that my guitars consistently went sharp before the four shows. I've was able to sneak anywhere between 30 and 45 minutes before the show to warm up on my guitar, and in the cold I wasn't only battling my own shivering, but the consistently changing tuning of my guitar.
The Iron Label have the Edge Zero II tremolo system in it, and while that did a great job holding tuning, the changing temperature of the strings backstage proved to have a few exciting moments to it; usually immediately prior to a show to ensure my blood pressure goes up just the right amount.
As a side note, the part of the bus that holds the waste water ... that froze. We discovered this when we tried to empty it and nothing came out. So imagine an entire band and crew huddling around the drain pipe of the bus trying to figure out how to get the frozen contents out without getting too close in case it suddenly thaws out. No one wanted to be in the way of that.
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Things don't often pan out the way you expect them to. I try to keep my expectations to a minimum with that in mind. Let me share a little story: I had just come out the shower before a show, thus ending my short exodus from personal hygiene. Wearing only my underwear, I strolled out into the dressing room in search of my clothes. Unknowingly, at the same time Tom Araya decided to stop by our dressing room to say hello. So, that's how I met Tom Araya: in my jocks. I had hoped I would get the chance to chat to the guys in the other bands; I guess I could also have been more specific how that might have occurred.
Hope you enjoyed this installment of 4ARM's tour update with Slayer and Gojira. It has been a blast so far and shows no signs of letting up. In the next week we start to head north again and back into the cold!
